Advice on how to safely pick up scared guinea pigs from a raised hutch

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Nutella&ice-cream

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Hello everyone

We are very lucky to have 2 young boars and since having them we have been talking to them lots but they have spent most of their time in their bedroom tucked away under hay and in their hideys. (Just over a week) They have been coming out regularly for food when nobody is watching but not for anything else. It is a 2 tier hutch and the only time they have ventured downstairs is if we open the hutch to their bedroom and they run away.

I need some advice on how to safely pick them up from their bedroom as I'm so scared they're going to fall out the door and it's a long way down! We have tried putting in cardboard boxes and pigloos to encourage them to jump into those but without any success. Currently, if I get them downstairs, as soon as I am there, they are back up the ramp again. I'm just not fast enough. Obviously, we need to pick them up and remove them from the hutch to clean it out properly. Any advice welcome!

Thanks
 
Hello and welcome.
It is early days, just over a week isn’t long at all. Piggies are prey animals and many never like being picked up so herding them into something is often the way to do it. I put my pet carrier into the bottom level of their hutch and my two boys run into it (because they now associate it with being put on the lawn, so happily go into the carrier and then curse me when I pick them up to clip their nails instead and they don’t get on the lawn!) and I then pick them up from the carrier to do their health checks and weigh them etc. Neither of my boys like being picked up and one of them will still run away from me after over a year of having them.
If you look at the guides in the new owners section, there are a lot of useful guides and information on how to settle new piggies, how to handle them safely and piggy whispering tips on how to bond with them.
 
Thank you. I have been reading all of the advice sections (for the past 18 months before getting them!)
I'm not planning on removing them again until the weekend when we need to clean out the hutch thoroughly but if it was like when we have tried already, they will not be ushered into a box, tunnel or carrier. They somehow find an escape route and I don't want it becoming a game of cat and mouse and frightening them more. What should I do if I can't get them into the box? They are certainly fast!
 
Nutella&ice-cream said:
Hello everyone

We are very lucky to have 2 young boars and since having them we have been talking to them lots but they have spent most of their time in their bedroom tucked away under hay and in their hideys. (Just over a week) They have been coming out regularly for food when nobody is watching but not for anything else. It is a 2 tier hutch and the only time they have ventured downstairs is if we open the hutch to their bedroom and they run away.

I need some advice on how to safely pick them up from their bedroom as I'm so scared they're going to fall out the door and it's a long way down! We have tried putting in cardboard boxes and pigloos to encourage them to jump into those but without any success. Currently, if I get them downstairs, as soon as I am there, they are back up the ramp again. I'm just not fast enough. Obviously, we need to pick them up and remove them from the hutch to clean it out properly. Any advice welcome!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

It takes time to train piggies to come into a conveyance and feel comfortable in it. They also take time to feel comfortable in their surroundings. Please make sure that the hutch is ideally under cover, well out of the extremes of weather and safe from predators; guinea pigs will go where others have been and left a scent spoor but they are not necessarily keen to explore if they are still not confident in their new territory. Make sure that you block the ramp, so they cannot go back or down and then try to gently herd them into a corner that you can block off further to have chance to get them into their carrier in order for hutch clean. Make sure that you have a treat and plenty of sift hay to burrow in in there.
A hay-filled lidded cardboard box with just one small exit you can cover easily with a hand they cannot see comming may also work to get them out without having to handle them. How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

You will need to close the ramp during the night anyway. Cold drafts can kill on frosty nights - and we are going to have one tonight in the UK. :(
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

Try our piggy whispering tricks to make friends with them, assure them that they are part of your group and that you love them in their language. It really makes a difference for your relationship. Try to avoid triggering their currently still high prey animal instincts as much as possible.

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Arrival in a home from the perspective of pet shop guinea pigs

I hope that this helps you! The first weeks with very skittish piggies that haven't had much in the way of friendly interaction with humans can be a bit fraught!
 
Thank you. The hutch has a thermal cover, LOADS of hay in their bedroom, it looks nearly filled most nights but then they squash it and eat it and I have been putting in snugglesafe cosypods for them before I go to bed to keep warm. Its undercover too and sheltered. I haven't been blocking off the ramp at all - should I be even though the bottom tier is raised off the ground?
Also, when herding them and you mention block off the ramp so they can't use it, do you mean when they are downstairs or upstairs?
Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get it right.
 
I think what wiebke means is close the ramp off temporarily when you are trying to herd them into a carrier of some sort.

In terms of closing their ramp off at night, in my opinion, is going to depend on where they are kept and if you can keep two levels of their hutch warm enough. If they are completely outside, then I’d block the ramp off and keep them on one level overnight so you can keep that one level warmer easier. Draughts can come up the ramp if not.
My boys live in a two storey hutch within my shed, having daytime hours access to the shed floor to play, I don’t block their access to either level of the hutch at all. They are completely in a draught free shed and I can keep both levels warm enough (hutch covers and snugglesafes).
It is even more important that ramps as closed off on the type of hutches that are an open wire surrounded run at the bottom with a wooden enclosed hutch at the top.
 
You have both been so helpful, thank you. I think I'm going to have to look into getting some wood and work out how to attach it to block off the ramp at night then. The hutch isn't an open bottom so it's not too draughty currently but will look into something for the colder nights.
What is the best way to block off the ramp at the bottom? Just put something in front of it?
Thanks again
 
Nutella&ice-cream said:
What is the best way to block off the ramp at the bottom? Just put something in front of it?
Click to expand...

As a temporary measure yes, probably putting something in front of it is a good way to do it. You’ll need to make sure whatever you use is secure ie can’t fall on them, or be moved by them!
 
Nutella&ice-cream said:
Thank you. The hutch has a thermal cover, LOADS of hay in their bedroom, it looks nearly filled most nights but then they squash it and eat it and I have been putting in snugglesafe cosypods for them before I go to bed to keep warm. Its undercover too and sheltered. I haven't been blocking off the ramp at all - should I be even though the bottom tier is raised off the ground?
Also, when herding them and you mention block off the ramp so they can't use it, do you mean when they are downstairs or upstairs?
Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get it right.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the further information. We always want to make sure with new owners that their piggies are safe. ;)

I would leave the ramp closed until your boys have settled in more and are more confident and just have them upstairs all the time for the time being if you can get hold of them there.
 
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